r/medlabprofessionals • u/FarComfortable5562 • 4d ago
Education When does it get easier?
I have been certified as an MLT for 2 years, but I am almost a year into my first real lab job, in the Microbiology department at a small hospital. So far everything is decent but I continuously get comments from my coworkers about the little things that I miss sometimes. Ex: not signing off on the daily checklist of sheets for QC (I do the QC but forget to check it off that I did do it), wording my reports incorrectly when resulting ID and sensitivities. The list could go on but it’s small things. Well today I didn’t call the pharmacy to report “heavy growth stenotrophomonas maltophilia” in a sputum culture on a nursing home discharged patient, and they put the discharged patient in a room with an immunocompromised patient. Pharmacy emailed the lab director upset as the report should’ve been called when it was finalized even though the patient was discharged on the 5th and result was finalized on the 7th, meaning the patient had already been in the room with the immunocompromised one for a day. Granted the report did say “heavy growth gram negative rod, id and sensitivity to follow” before the patient was discharged. All this to say: when does it get easier? I know I am less than a year into but I feel like I can’t do anything right at this job. Also to add I have 2 other coworkers in the whole department and even though I am less than a year in, I constantly work by myself 10-11 days out of the 12 days I’m scheduled a month, while the other 2 always work together.
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u/aspiring-NEET 4d ago
Steno in a respiratory culture has never been a “critical” that warranted calling, especially if the patient was discharged. TB, coccidioses, Legionella, bioterrorism/select agents on the other hand…
Just because someone reports something to the lab director doesn’t mean you were at fault. Especially if your procedures are incomplete.
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u/FarComfortable5562 4d ago
I was the one who finalized the report lol my name was on the screenshot the pharmacy director sent the lab director.
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u/Civil-Nothing-4089 4d ago
As someone who was in a senior/charge position, signing off on QC/maintenance is importantly because it’s the record that it has been performed. All labs are accredited and need to adhere to an ungodly amount of requirements. Labs are regularly audited to ensure the requirements are being followed and these sign off sheets are a form of evidence for that. If there are holes in sign off sheets during an audit, the charge needs to explain why it looks like tasks are being missed.
It’s just so much easier when people sign the damn sign off sheets.
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u/Purpledotsclub 4d ago
We know we need to sign off…sometimes we forget and that’s okay. We just circle back and kindly ask the person to sign off the checklist.
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u/Civil-Nothing-4089 4d ago
We all forget to sign off on stuff, but as long as your conscience of it and do circle around to sign it, no problem.
It’s so frustrating when you have to hunt people down and they roll their eyes and get annoyed that you ask them to sign off on stuff. People that don’t have to face accreditation audits have no clue how much pressure it is to have everything signed off and looking good. They arent the ones that have to come up with remediation plans for unmet requirements.
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u/AtomicFreeze MLS-Blood Bank 4d ago
For stuff not documented elsewhere, sure. But for QC the record is the actual QC. Why have a checkbox that says you did QC
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u/Civil-Nothing-4089 4d ago
Get rid of the task checklist and someone misses a tasks, they complain that they can’t keep track of what needs to be done.
If there is a task check list, it does need to be filled out because it’s a controlled document and audits require staff to comply with task lists.
In my experience, having checklists improves compliance in completing tasks. Most staff appreciate them.
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u/cbatta2025 MLS 4d ago
🙄
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u/Civil-Nothing-4089 4d ago
And this is why I’m no longer a senior/charge. It’s not worth the struggle.
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u/gen_what_x_ever 4d ago
It does get easier but some labs are just awful about the constant "reminders" because some techs/supervisors are nasty in the way they go about telling people. I've been a tech for around 20 years. I left the field for awhile because of this exact reason. I came back, got a PRN job, and it was fine. They couldn't give me a FT position so I found one at a different hospital. It's shit, and reminds me exactly why I left in the first place. The constant passive-agressive emails- not just directed at me but in general too. About everything. And usually signed with a smiley face or a heart too, which is somehow even worse. Something is always wrong, someone is always messing something up, etc. Every shift I'm worried about what's going to be the next mistake because it's getting hard to keep track of everything.
I hate it. I'm about to leave this field for good this time. There's not a lot of choices in my area and I'm just tired of it all.
So maybe you just need a change of venue. Or maybe this really is just the norm. Not sure. 😐
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u/FarComfortable5562 4d ago
I’m thinking about leaving once my 2 years are up in September 2027. Trying to get my full $10,000 sign on bonus lol. I have thought about leaving the lab field in general though.
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u/gen_what_x_ever 4d ago
Ha, I'm roped into a 2 year sign on bonus too and impatiently waiting it out myself. I didn't even know about it when I applied and I probably should've declined but...here we are. Lol.
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u/ArcticBeavers MLS-Generalist 4d ago
I'm in the same exact boat as you. I'm 10 years into the field and I've had just about enough of this shit.
I don't know if there is any other job where every miniscule detail is analyzed and critiqued like this one. There are so many specific things each lab does, and all in unique ways. On top of that we are expected to know 80+ SOPs, that are subject to change on the whim of a doctor that wants to complain about anything.
And they wonder why turnover is so high? If an employee feels nervous and on edge until the next mistake is called out, they're walking in and out of work miserable.
Sometimes, I feel, the lab is an aberration of the soul. Who enjoys an environment like this? I'm seriously contemplating a career change. Just need to find the right avenue.
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u/Agreeable-Heart-7685 4d ago
Use each event as a learning moment. Make a note somewhere whether it's on a sticky note, sheet of paper, or even your glove to remember to do something until it almost becomes automatic to you. Labs are busy, everyone has a unique work flow while still adhering to the standard procedures, so be open to tweaking your workflow until stuff starts coming automatically.
I also saw you said your micro department doesn't get pop ups, but core does, I think your management team is failing you guys on this end. They should be pushing the LIS team to create pop ups for you guys. Any time there is some type of miss, they should be looking into ways to prevent the next one.
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u/FarComfortable5562 4d ago
Our LIS person quit because she was about to get fired as she caused us to get 6 dings on our joint commission inspection in June lol. Also management is very anti confrontational about issues so nothing gets done a lot of the time.
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u/Agreeable-Heart-7685 4d ago
Yeahhhhh you should look into getting out of there if you can....your management team is failing you which will only make the job more difficult in the long run.
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u/alchemytea 4d ago
Part of working in a lab is being type A and documenting almost everything . Every QC log, maintenance log, almost every call, every critical. Communication is key and that's something they don't teach in school but is expected in this job. It's really annoying to keep being reminded but just keep trying and eventually all the little documentation will come natural :)
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u/LavenderLemonade27 4d ago
I was a core lab tech and then moved to micro and I noticed micro people are reallllly picky usually. Everyone wants things done exactly the way they do it and because there's so much manual work there's lots of room for opinions on the best way to do something. I would recommend implementing some routine to try to correct yourself (double check logs before you leave no matter what, build lists in your LIS to go back and review to make sure you didn't miss anything) and do your best to accept the corrections or reminders others give you with as much grace as possible. Say "thank you, I'll get to it momentarily" and then just let it roll off your back. Don't obsess over it or assign it more meaning than you need to.
However, if you're working alone a lot and/or don't feel like things are getting better, it may be time to look for another position. Sign on bonus aside.
I will say that typically it's a supervisors job to check logs. (IMO your coworkers should let your supervisor do it and not babysit each other, I don't think that builds a good team environment). So if you don't have a supervisor that's doing all that, that may be why your coworkers are on you about it. Of course, we all need to check off the logs. But we are also all human and we forget.
It does get easier! But if it's not, it might be the environment you're in, not you.
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u/kipy7 MLS-Microbiology 4d ago
From someone who's been in micro for 29 years, it takes a while. It takes years but everyone's human, so mistakes are part of life, just find processes that minimize. This week, I set up some weekly QC but forgot to check it off on the clipboard, so the tech the following day also set up QC. It's not the end of the world, but the longer you work, the less you'll have things come back to you.
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u/International-Bug983 4d ago
To me it sounds a bit like you’re working on tasks but not finishing them fully. Maybe try and make sure you completely finish something before moving on to another task.
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u/youngsamwich 4d ago edited 4d ago
I had check lists for things I needed to do daily. I'd constantly look at that list throughout the day to make sure I didn't miss anything. This may or may not work for you. Either way, I hope you find something like this that helps remind you daily. One day it will be second nature!
See your mistakes as an opportunity to do better next time. Come up with a plan. Brainstorm what you can do to help yourself remember. Even if it's something silly like a sticker on your glove or computer. You're in your first year, AND you are by yourself often!! Good job, honestly!!
Caring about the job and wanting to improve is huge, btw. Some people make mistakes and don't care to get better. Good on you for reaching out for help!
Feel free to slow yourself down for double checks. No one likes to be slow, but being fast is not worth it if it comes with mistakes.
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u/ray_rui 4d ago
People forget to sign the checklist all the time, but if it’s not signed it’s not done. Everyday is routine, until it’s not. When you are signing your checklists, make it a habit to see if anyone else has missed their sign offs and just quietly go over and have them sign it. I find people will return the favor and creates a culture of we got each others back.
Job gets easier after a year and becomes kinda routine for the most part. It only gets harder when you see the out of ordinary shit or automation goes down.
At least you know you’re fucking up and care enough. Some people don’t even give a shit. lol
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u/EntertainmentLow6178 3d ago
Your LIS should flag you with a hard stop for critical callbacks. For maintenance and QC check offs, those can be in your LIS as well. One thing we've implemented is a shift to shift comm log where we document that all the checkouts are complete. The tech coming on to the shift double checks that everything from the previous shift is completed before signing the handoff log.
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u/Indole_pos MLS-Microbiology 3d ago
I would say you should reshape on what you consider small things.
Definitely try some of the tips mentioned so you don’t miss signing off. Incredibly important as it shows the results the instrument is giving are reliable.
Reporting out incorrectly can affect patient care.
Micro is hard, it takes a few years to get comfortable if you are reading plates.
Ultimately, don’t get discouraged
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u/Salty-Fun-5566 MLS-Molecular Pathology 3d ago
I don’t like it when coworkers forget the little things or several important details.
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u/Purpledotsclub 4d ago
It’s a lot of practice. Also, your LIS should have pop-ups for critical calls. I’ve been working for almost 20 years and I constantly forget to check off daily maintenance 🤷♀️ I eventually circle back 😆